Where No Man
by enzosprite
Summary: What if Trip joined T'Pol to get some water in Season 1 "Strange New World". Episode Tag/AU.


**Note: This is an old one written and published over 10 years ago. It's archived elsewhere, but can't remember where. Noticed my cut and paste job was a bit shoddy and I deleted a few words. I've since sorted that out.**

=/\= =/\= =/\=

Commander Trip Tucker adjusted his footing on a loose rock as it wobbled precariously under him. "I thought you said the water source was only sixty meters from our location.I don't see no water."

Sub-Commander T'Pol didn't look up from her scanning device. "It is. We are only ten meters away from the source." She collapsed the device and made her way through the wedge in the rock face.

"Where the hell you off to now?" Trip questioned with his usual sarcasm.

"The source is through here," T'Pol answered back, inching her way into the crack.

"Your toy tell you that?"

She leveled him with her signature superior look. "My aural acuity is far superior to yours."

Tucker couldn't help but smirk at her reply. "Must be those cute pointy Vulcan ears, huh?"

She disappeared further into the narrow corridor, but Trip imagined those arched eyebrows going up to the ceiling.

"Are you coming commander?"

Tucker pointed his light after T'Pol and followed her into the dark crevice. "Keep yer shirt on, Sub-Commander. I'm comin'."

Trip finally immerged on the other side and was met with a stunning sight that had him gapping. He whistled in awe. "This is nice."

"Please refrain yourself from taking photographs and focus on the mission." She opened up her device on passive scan.

Tucker looked at her surprised. "I think you just made a joke..." he moved his gaze to the moving water. "Why's the place glowing?"

"The rock face contain luminescent properties. You will be glad to know that the water is safe for consumption," she reported.

Trip knelt down to the edge of the pool and scooped some of the clear liquid into his palm. "Water's kinda warm."

"It will suffice."

Her dismissive tone annoyed him. "You Vulcans are all alike. I bet you'd say the same thing if the water was as murky as the old Mississippi."

"Unlike Humans, Vulcans do not indulge in frivolities. We put necessity above creature comforts."

"I'm sure you do," Trip gritted out angrily. "But those indulgences are what make life worth li-" He made to reach for the water container and promptly lost his balance. The slippery ground gave out and propelled him backwards into the tepid pool, his arms flailing, trying to find purchase on something solid. He found nothing but air.

"Whoahhhh..."

T'Pol reacted instinctively, her lightning fast reflexes had her arm shooting out for Trip. But even her superior strength was no match for his momentum. Trip tumbled headfirst into the water, taking T'Pol with him. A loud splash accompanied their head first dive into the pool and they resurfaced a moment later sputtering and coughing.

"Forget what I said... this water's down right cold."

"That statement is completely illogical. The ambient temperature-"

Tucker covered her mouth with his hand. "Could you please... just once... shut that lovely Vulcan mouth of yours and just enjoy the moment?"

They stared at each other for a long while and when T'Pol said nothing Trip removed his hand. He floated away from her and stared up at the cave ceiling. "Come out, come out, where ever you are!" He heard movement in the water and glanced over to T'Pol. She was trembling, rocking back and forth, murmuring to herself.

"What's wrong with you?" T'Pol's reply was something foreign and obviously Vulcan and his glare did nothing to halt the murmurings of her mother tongue.

"Would you cut that gibberish out. It's pissing me off!" A sudden movement above them, a rippling on the granite walls had him fumbling for his phased pistol. "What are you tellin' them? Who's there? Show your selves!" He pulled up his phaser and aimed at the empty walls.

"This...is...a foolish endeavor. There are no intelligent life forms in this planet."

"You tellin' me and the rest of the away team were imaginin' this thing?" he shouted at her. "I know what I saw and I saw a creature come out of a rock like some kinda chameleon."

"AND I KNOW WHAT MY SENSORS TOLD ME!" She yelled back as heatedly.

"Screw your sensors! This is not the first time you Vulcans have chosen to hide things from us under the guise of protection when the truth is, you enjoy keeping us in the dark, keeping yourselves all mighty and superior; like you're some how better than us just because you got a couple of centuries on us in the evolutionary scale. Well I'm tired of that shit. As far as I'm concerned you Vulcans can KISS MY HUMAN ASS!"He looked around the dripping wet cavern. "YOU HEAR ME? THESE HOLIER THAN THOU VULCANS DON'T SPEAK FOR US. YOU WANNA TALK? YOU DO IT MANO EL MANO!"

"Rah Shinsiraht!"

"I told you to quit that!" he yelled at T'Pol. He pointed his pistol at her face to solidify his point. Her dark brown eyes stared at him unflinchingly. Behind them he saw something that he thought he'd never see behind a Vulcan's eyes: Anger, and just as subtle: Fear.

The later made him feel like a total bastard. "Goddamit," he swore softly to himself and quickly lowered his side arm. "What the hell is happening here?"

"Mu Fisahr."

He peered up at her, his head lowered. "I don't speak Vulcan."

"Mu- hard... to speak."

Trip looked up and narrowed his eyes. He swiped at the moisture trickling down from his hairline. "Why..." he found it hard to breathe for some reason. "Why's it hard to speak?" He saw her shake her head. She closed her eyes and he saw her grimace in pain. He splashed over to her and touched her shoulders. "What's wrong?"

"I...must...keep...control." She'd whispered the words and he was sure if it weren't for the echoes in the cave and his proximity, he would have missed it.

"It's okay to give in, you know. There's nothing wrong with losing some control-"

"You don't understand!" she gritted out, agitated. "Vulcans are not permitted to lose control. It is forbidden to...to do so. There are consequences..." she trembled under his hand, the effort to compose herself taking most of her strength.

"Leave..."she begged him. Her eyes dark pools of obsidian.

"I won't leave you like this," he told her vehemently. "It's not safe with these alien bastards around."

"You...be...lieve that I know of them," she reminded him of his suspicions.

He shook his head. "I don't care about that. I'm not leaving you and that's final."

"Arrrghhh!" Her sudden outburst startled him and her assault left him unprepared. She landed solidly on his chest, knocking the breath out of him. He went briefly under water but resurfaced when she hauled him back up by his shirt front. "Ahr sham para!"

Her fingers went to his temples and the side of his face and Trip felt something touch his mind. It tingled and insinuated itself into his thoughts until his head swam with images, unfamiliar, but not unpleasant. He saw things, felt things that had him doing things he'd hidden even from his self.

When he found himself back into his own consciousness, his mouth was ravaging someone else's and she was doing the same. She tasted sweet... so very different from all his other experiences. He felt his mouth being bruised by the pressure of the kiss and he fought back, nipping the juicy plump lips and tasting the metallic taste of blood.

He continued to plunge his tongue into the warm crevice of her mouth and a part of him was cognizant enough to let his hands wander below the water line and span her smooth, clothes covered back. "What the hell am I doing..." he mumbled between nips of her soft skin. He licked at the moisture on her neck and forced the neckline of her suit to plunge lower, exposing her breast.

"Oh lord..." Trip moaned at the sight of her. He'd seen the outline of them during decon. He'd even touched her body before with surgical precision, but his frustration with her and his own stubborn control had sterilized the moment. He'd yelled at her and accused her of going behind the captain's back. But those barriers were now gone. Pure animal instinct was taking over and he was powerless to stop it.

T'Pol growled against his neck and made fast work of his uniform. He found himself half-naked, panting along with her as they studied each other in earnest. Trip felt her hands wonder around his torso, tracing the muscled planes of his chest. He reached out to do the same, touching her softness, and heard her groan in pleasure.

He captured her lips once again and moved them closer to the shore. He deposited them on a smooth hard surface and rid them of the rest of their clothes. They touched and kissed, their bodies undulating against each other. A part of him wanted to stop; knew he had to stop. This wasn't right. Vulcans didn't act this way. Hell, *he* didn't act this way. But the voice was small and a very big part admitted that the attraction had been there from the beginning.

From that day she'd ignored his outstretched hand in the captain's ready room, and all those other times she'd insulted and doused him with logic, a part of him, the very male, very attracted part had wished he could push her down and screw the logic out of her. Well that's exactly what he was doing now.

In the back of his mind, he heard her grunt of pain as he drove incessantly inside her, but he couldn't stop his body from moving or racing to completion. Trip knew he was hurting her, but he also knew that she didn't want him to stop. Her writhing body told him the truth; the clawing at his back and the growling beside his ear egged him on.

Trip felt her body quake beneath him and felt she was close. He thrilled at the idea that he was making little miss Vulcan lose control... but it was quickly wiped away by the sensations overtaking him. He pushed against her one last time before yelling out his climax, swearing to all that was holly that he was coming.

He collapsed against her and felt arms tighten around him. Trip's head swam and he sank deeper on top her, until consciousness left him.

T'Pol had only enough sense to push Trip to his side and off of her and she too closed her eyes and welcomed the oblivion.

=/\= =/\= =/\=

When Trip opened his eyes, he found himself squinting from the bright unnatural light. He tried to move his head, but hand a hand stopped him and a second later a large head hovered above him.

"Ah! You're awake." Glowing blue eyes stared down at him.

"Where am I?" he asked, his throat sounding scratchy.

"Sickbay, of course," Doctor Phlox grinned widely. Trip winced, slightly disturbed by the clownish , Joker-like smile. "How am I doin'?"

The doctor shrugged slightly. "Aside from a slight headache, the hypo spray took care of everything. You'll be just fine, Commander."

He rose from the bed and combed his fingers through his hair. "Good." He looked around the sickbay and found it empty except for himself. "Where's everyone else?"

Phlox looked up from arranging various vials. "In their quarters resting. It almost didn't turn out well. You were all exposed to some toxin that were harmful to humanoids, fortunately the Captain got to you on time and injected all of you with ineprovaline."

Cold realization gripped him. The cave. Water. T'Pol. "Doctor..." he hesitated a moment before speaking again. "How... I mean... who brought us back... here on the ship?"

"Captain Archer, of course. Mr. Reed did help," he looked at Trip meaningfully. "I assure you Mr. Tucker, what occurred on the surface was handled with the strictest confidence."

So the alien bastard knew; and so did Archer and Reed by the looks of it. He closed his eyes in contrition. He thought about T'Pol and her reaction. Knowing her, she's probably wiped the whole incident from her memory banks like the computer she tried to be. Damned it all to hell.

He felt disgusted with himself. Probably not as disgusted as T'Pol was, but pretty darn close. It bothered the bejeezus out of him that he'd used her like that. He knew that Vulcans abhorred anything that walked and talked emotions. Getting all intimate with him certainly qualified.

Trip reminded himself, as he shrugged on his clothes, that he wasn't the one who'd initiated the whole thing, but that was a poor excuse for what he'd let happen. If he was being honest with himself, he'd done exactly what he'd wanted to do from day one, free from all inhibitions, he'd acted on it. With disastrous consequences, he might add.

He left sickbay, thanking the doc on his way out. He knew what was coming next and he wasn't looking forward to it.

'Archer to Tucker, report to the ready room.'

"On my way, sir..." he replied knowing Archer couldn't hear him.

Fin.


End file.
